A solo lunch-time sojourn to Ten-Ten’s Kitchen in East Vic Park prompted a review of the various indicators of quality for Malaysian cuisine in a western city. So with the delicious taste of laksa still in his mouth, here’s Pete’s ten signs of promise for a Malaysian restaurant in Perth:

1. Abrasive maitre d’ barks orders at you on entry
2. Limited English
3. Incomprehensibly fast service (tacit to “100 year” laksa pot out back)
4. No skimping on the egg and bottomless refills of bean sprouts and chilli
5. Spelling mistakes on menus (such as “BYO wine $4 cockage”)
6. Yeo’s Soy Bean Drink
7. Vinyl / no table cloths; outdoor furniture
8. Laksa blindness sets in on exiting
9. Next door to one or more other Malaysian restaurants
10. Cash only